Brazilians rally to keep popular ESL teacher in America

With less than two months to go until her student visa expires, a popular English as a Second Language teacher at Framingham State University is getting a big boost from the local Brazilian community in her bid to continue working at the school.

With less than two months to go until her student visa expires, a popular English as a Second Language teacher at Framingham State University is getting a big boost from the local Brazilian community in her bid to continue working at the school.

A petition urging the university to obtain an H1B visa for Vanessa Desani so far has garnered nearly 600 signatures, and supporters of the Brazilian immigrant are hoping to get an audience with influential leaders like Gov. Deval Patrick and the president of Brazil.

But so far there is no indication from Framingham State that it will budge from its policy of not seeking worker visas for part-time employees.

“I think this is all just a misunderstanding,” Desani, 28, said.

While she understands the school’s reluctance to pay the $3,500 typically involved in an H1B filing process — only employers can obtain those visas, intended for temporary specialty workers — Desani and her supporters say she offers more value to the university than the typical part-timer.

Since coming aboard last fall, Desani, the only Portuguese speaker in Framingham State’s division of graduate and continuing education, has reached out to the Brazilian community on a level the university hasn’t done before, her students and associates say.

“She’s an extremely well-respected teacher,” said Christine Tibor, director of the Framingham Adult ESL Plus program, where Desani also teaches part time. “Her classes have outstanding attendance — people really want to learn from her.”

Desani has also become a staple on local Brazilian radio station AM 650, on which she has implored Brazilians to “stop watching soap operas” and apply themselves to learning English.

“That’s the reason I was there, because I heard her talking on the station,” said one of Desani’s former Framingham State students, Lisiane Scortegagna. “And it wasn’t just me — probably 90 percent of the Brazilians were there for the same reason.”

Slightly more than half of the students in the adult ESL program this past spring were from Brazil, according to a department survey Desani provided to the Daily News.

Learning from a fellow Brazilian “makes all the difference,” Scortegagna said. “The way we learn English is different, and she understands the difference.”

Mastering the language was the original reason Desani, a Portuguese and English teacher in Brazil, came to Massachusetts on a J1 cultural exchange visa in 2007. After taking classes at Framingham State, she earned a master’s in teaching English as a second language at Cambridge College last year.

Now on a student visa, Desani said she is still teaching in Framingham’s summer ESL program. Courses start at around $300; more intensive programs offered at other times of the year are more expensive.

Several university officials, including Chief of Staff and General Counsel Rita Colucci and Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education Scott Greenberg, declined to comment on Desani’s status. School spokesman Dan Magazu said he couldn’t speak specifically about her case, but said the university as a general practice does not pursue H1B’s for part-time employees, mostly due to the cost and time involved.

Page 2 of 2 - But Desani’s supporters are not giving up and have contacted local lawmakers like state Rep. Tom Sannicandro, D-Ashland, for help.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” he said. “Vanessa is someone who has helped many of her neighbors and Framingham residents and has received an outpouring of support. I hope a solution can be worked out.”

If it doesn’t work out, Desani said she’ll try to find another employer willing to get her a visa. Her last resort is to return to Brazil, which would be a waste of all the time and effort she’s put into her education in the United States, as well as a blow to her vision of creating a partnership between Framingham’s Brazilian community and the local university, she said.